Very nice article Ben, and I definitely agree. I think I typically lay it out a little differently when I’m thinking about it:

True passive income = investment income = invest money to make money

Trendy passive income = semi-automated online commerce = can invest a combination of time and money to make money

The key point is that unless you turn your side hustle into a business with employees that operates without you, you can’t generate ongoing passive income. I still sometimes use the label of passive income to talk about internet-leveraged side hustles because even though the income will slowly decay and eventually dry up, you can build things to the point where they develop their own momentum. Even though I have been slacking when it comes to writing on Medium, I’m still getting paid. It will eventually dry up, but I’ve had months where I’ve written nothing and actually made more than I typically do in an active month of writing